If You Hold Me (A Sugar Maple Novel #4) - Ciara Knight Page 0,3

thought we’d probably die before he’d ever bless us with his presence again.” None other than Jaqueline Raynor strutted out the door of a coffeehouse with all the drama of a superstar attending an awards ceremony, and he had a feeling that he was about to witness a grand performance.

“Heya, Jackie.” He unzipped his jacket and slid it from his shoulders, buying himself a minute to prepare for whatever she was about to sling his way. His brother had filled him in on some stuff before he’d been shipped out, shortly after Tanner had left for college, and it sounded like the Fabulous Five had declared war on him. Well, the four since Mary-Beth had left for college before he could even pack for his own new life. Somehow, some way, he was labeled the bad guy, despite the fact that after they quarreled one time over his choice to attend Notre Dame instead of the University of Tennessee, she’d taken off without a word or phone call, and cut him out of her life forever. He’d been the one to try to patch things up, but she’d never answered any of his calls, text messages, notes. Nothing. She had ghosted him.

“Still sporting the I’m-so-sexy-no-one-can-be-mad-at-me smile?” Jackie struck a pose with one ankle out, flipped coat behind her, and a hand on her hip.

He wanted to remind the woman that her dear friend was the villain in the high school saga of Sugar Maple, not him. “Trust me, I’m not trying to sport anything to anyone. I’m just here to pick something up for my mom, and then I’m headed to the farm. I plan to be as distant and invisible as possible.”

“Really? By riding into town on a motorcycle everyone can hear, a James Dean look for everyone to notice, and all staged in the heart of the town. In front of Mary-Beth’s coffee shop?”

“What?” His gut clenched as if catching a fifty-yard pass in the end zone of life. “She’s gone, left Sugar Maple before I did for her dream life of being a dancer.”

Jackie laughed, a sinister, dainty laugh that sounded like a Scarlett O’Hara Joker. “Riiiight. So, you had no idea that she returned to Sugar Maple after college to help her parents when her mother became ill?”

His mind rolled with confusion and fear. “Ill? Is Mrs. Richards okay?”

“Yes, she is now, but apparently Mary-Beth decided to stay and open this place.” She pointed to the Maple Grounds sign in swirly, fall-colored font with a large maple leaf at the side. The style screamed Mary-Beth Richards.

He eyed the front windows. Part of him wanted to burst through the doors and demand to know why she took off without a word. Another part of him wanted to get on his bike and race out of town. “I thought she wouldn’t be here.”

“You would’ve known if the almighty football hero would’ve ever taken a minute to check in with his family and friends.”

He studied his riding boots. “I’m no hero.” That was it, the end of the conversation. No way in God’s great Smoky Mountains would he open up to Jackie and the Fabulous Five’s impending invasion. He’d go to the farm and hide out until he could escape again when his brother finished up his tour. Only a few months. What could happen in a few months? “Nice to see you again Jackie.” He bolted to the feed store and marched to the counter. “I’m here to pick up an order for the McCadden Farm.”

“If it isn’t Tanner McCadden. Good to see you, man. You really did escape the small-town life. What are you doing back here?” asked a man around his age who looked vaguely familiar with his flat-top, broad shoulders, and square jaw, but Tanner couldn’t place him except for recognizing he was an obvious ex-football buddy.

“Good to see you. Sorry, in a bit of a hurry. Thanks.” He snagged the feed bag and bolted out of the store, keeping his head down all the way to his bike.

“You gonna put that over your shoulder and balance it there all the way back to the farm?”

He looked up to find a mesmerizing, life-altering, perfectly packaged girl with big earrings, big bracelets, big eyes, and big attitude sitting on his bike. “Hi, Mary-Beth. How you been?”

“I’ve been here. You?”

“Fine.” He adjusted the feed bag on his shoulder, realizing he’d been so busy worrying about getting through town without running into anyone, he hadn’t thought about how